"On the remote chance of meeting me whom you pretended to have
forgotten," replied the young man audaciously.

"Of course," laughed Jennie; "but aside from that, I came to see the
costumes. You know, we women are libellously said to dress for each
other. Away from the world, in the Tyrol, I have little opportunity
of seeing anything fine in the way of dress, and so I accepted the
invitation of the Duchess."

"Have you the invitation of the Duchess with you?"

"Yes, I am going to make some notes on the back of it. Would you like to
see it?" She handed him the letter and then leaned back in her chair,
regarding him closely. The puzzled expression on his face deepened as
he glanced over the invitation, and saw that it was exactly what it
purported to be. He gave the letter back to her, saying,--

"So you are here to see the fashions. It is a subject I know little
about; but, judging by effect, I should say that the Princess von
Steinheimer has nothing to learn from anyone present. If I may touch on
a topic so personal, your costume is what they call a creation, is it
not, Princess?"

"It isn't bad," said the girl, looking down at her gown and then
glancing up at him with merriment dancing in her eyes. The diplomat had
his elbow resting on the balustrade, his head leaning on his hand, and,
quite oblivious to everything else, was gazing at her with such absorbed
intentness that the girl blushed and cast down her eyes. The intense
admiration in his look was undisguised. "Still," she rattled on somewhat
breathlessly, "one gets many hints from others, and the creation of
to-day is merely the old clothes of to-morrow. Invention has no vacation
so far as ladies' apparel is concerned. 'Take no thought of the morrow,
wherewithal ye shall be clothed,' may have been a good motto for the
court of Solomon, but it has little relation with that of Victoria."

"Solomon--if the saying is his--was hedging. He had many wives, you
know."

"Well, as I was about to say, you must now turn your attention to
the other guests, and tell me who's who. I have already confessed my
ignorance, and you promised to enlighten me."

The young man, with visible reluctance, directed his thoughts from the
one to the many, and named this person and that, while Jennie, with
the pencil attached to her card, made cabalistic notes in shorthand,
economizing thus both space and time. When at last she had all the
information that could be desired, she leane